Film Friday: This Week's Movie News and New Trailers

More is revealed about The Bourne Legacy

Producing a fourth Bourne film has been a bit of a struggle for Universal. First they wanted another film with Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, but Damon would only work with Paul Greengrass, the director of The Bourne Supremacy73 and The Bourne Ultimatum85. When Greengrass was unable to produce a workable script, Tony Gilroy, who shared writing credit on all three Bourne films and directed Michael Clayton82 and Duplicity69, was selected to write and direct a fourth film that would star a new operative but leave the door open for Damon’s Bourne to return in the future. The result is The Bourne Legacy, and the latest trailer indicates it definitely shares a world with Damon’s last Bourne outing as we see Jeremy Renner’s Aaron Cross running for his life with a scientist played by Rachel Weisz. Edward Norton seems to be taking over the role of the main villain, and returning to the Bourne universe are Joan Allen, David Strathairn, Albert Finney, and Scott Glenn. Check it out in theaters beginning August 3rd.

A first look at Les Misérables

It’s tough to follow-up a best picture winner, but Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech88) has put together an amazing cast for his big-screen musical adaptation of Les Misérables. This latest retelling of Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel stars Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean, Russell Crowe as his nemesis, Inspector Javert, Anne Hathaway as Fantine, Amanda Seyfried as Cosette, Samantha Barks as Éponine, Eddie Redmayne as Marius, and Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter as the Thénardiers. The first teaser gives a good sense of the scale of the film, which comes to theaters December 14th. For more, check out “Les Misérables From Stage to Screen” at USA Today.

Behind the Scenes of Ron Howard’s Rush

Among many highly anticipated films for 2013 is Rush, Ron Howard’s look at the friendship and rivalry between the great Formula 1 drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda. This featurette mixes snippets of Led Zeppelin songs with race recreations, original footage and our first peek at Chris Hemsworth as Hunt and Daniel Bruhl as Lauda. The film will most likely focus on the 1976 race year in which Hunt and Lauda dueled for the World Championship. Rush, which has no release date as of now, also stars Olivia Wilde and Natalie Dormer

Iron Man 3 villains, known and rumored

Rumors have been swirling about who would be the main villain in Iron Man 3 pretty much since the film was announced. In the original Iron Man79, it was Jeff Bridges’ Obadiah Stane. Iron Man 2 upped the ante with Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer and Mickey Rourke’s Ivan Vanko (aka Whiplash). Now comes word from Latino Review that they can confirm that The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) will be pulling some evil strings in Iron Man 3, but that Guy Pearce’s Aldrich Killian is the more active villain, inventing Extremis, a nanotechnology serum meant to recreate the super-soldier serum, and injecting this into multiple individuals. Here’s where the speculation begins again: those individuals are most likely James Badge Dale’s Eric Savin (aka Coldblood) and Ashley Hamilton’s Firepower. There’s still no word on the rumored roles of Andy Lau and William Sadler, but new pictures from the set also revealed the presence of the Iron Patriot suit. Check it out on Superhero Hype while you wait for Iron Man 3 to come to theaters May 3, 2013.

The first trailer for Cannes winner Amour

It was announced this week that Michael Haneke’s Palme d’Or-winning Amour will be coming to U.S. theaters on December 19th. The unflinching look at the love between Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and his sickly wife Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) earned almost universal praise from critics and festival attendees. You can read what the critics thought in our Cannes 2012 recap and check out the first subtitled trailer below.

Another look at Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

This latest preview for Timur Bekmambetov’s (Wanted64) adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter uses Lincoln’s Gettysburg address to add some gravitas to all the axe-swinging action. There’s a touch of new footage (a little more Rufus Sewell and a little more atmosphere), but it’s time for star Benjamin Walker to put on his best beard and top hat, join with his vampire friend Henry Sturgess, played by Dominic Cooper, and get to choppin’ some heads off. The film hits 2D and 3D theaters beginning June 22nd.

A new trailer for Premium Rush

The Joseph Gordon-Levitt bike messenger thriller Premium Rush has moved all over the release calendar, but it’s finally coming to theaters August 24th. In the film, Gordon-Levitt gets a package that an always fun-to-watch Michael Shannon really wants. David Koepp, who recently contributed to the Men in Black III58 script, directs from a screenplay he co-wrote with his Ghost Town72 partner, John Kamps. The supporting cast includes Jamie Chung, Dania Ramirez, and Aasif Mandvi. Check it out in theaters August 24th.

This Is Where I Leave You heading for the big screen

Adam Shankman’s adaptation of the hit musical Rock of Ages comes to theaters June 15th, and he already has another adaptation in the works. This time, he’ll be tackling Jonathan Tropper’s best-selling novel This Is Where I Leave You. The story revolves around Judd Foxman, whose struggling marriage is brought to a head during the seven days and nights he and his family sit shiva for his deceased father. Tropper has adapted his own novel for the screen, and Shankman is in the process of casting, with Deadline reporting that Jason Bateman would take the lead as Judd with Zac Efron playing his brother, Goldie Hawn playing his mother, and Leslie Mann playing his sister. THR adds that Malin Akerman would play Bateman’s wife, and Jason Sudeikis would play her boss, with whom she’s having an affair.

The Amazing Spider-Man spotted in Australia

When it comes to trailers, sometimes the international markets get a little more (or different) footage than we do domestically. That is why we bring you the Australian trailer for Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man starring Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Emma Stone as his love interest Gwen Stacy, and Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Conners (aka The Lizard). All we’ll say is that someone gets thrown out of a window, and it’s not who you might expect. The final two viral videos from Oscorp Industries were also revealed this week. Check them out below, and see the film in 2D or 3D beginning July 3rd.

A slow week ... only 5 new Prometheus videos

The Prometheus hype has reached a boiling point (or maybe it’s a saturation point). This film comes to U.S. theaters a week from today. Reviews and spoilers have already hit the internet (you can read some of them here, and they are mildly disappointing at the moment), and yet we still have one more featurette and a few new clips to share with you. No major spoilers below (most reviewers have been pretty good about avoiding them as well), just a little information on the titular ship and a few abbreviated scenes. Enjoy, and catch it in 2D or 3D beginning next Friday, then let us know if it lived up to the hype.

Trailers for two Sundance films

Documentary The Imposter and Stephen Frears' Lay the Favorite still don’t have U.S. release dates, but Indomina owns the distribution rights for the former, and The Weinstein Company plans on rolling out Frears' film in the U.S. eventually. So until then, we have a few trailers to tease us. The documentary about a 23 year-old French con artist who assumed the identity of the long lost son of a Texas family received positive reviews when it played at Sundance, but Stephen Frears' true-life gambling comedy starring Bruce Willis and Rebecca Hall got a much more disappointing reception. See if either is to your liking below.

Branded trailer

This is one of the crazier trailers released this year. Set in a dystopian future (is there any other kind?), Branded stars Ed Stoppard as a man trying to uncover the vast conspiracy controlling advertising and our minds. Max von Sydow, Jeffrey Tambor, and Leelee Sobieski also appear in this film written and directed by Jamie Bradshaw and Aleksandr Dulerayn. Expect a limited release beginning September 7th.

The cast of CBGB

The iconic New York club CBGB will be getting the indie film treatment from Bottle Shock56 director Randall Miller, and that means many actors will get to live out their punk rock dreams. One of those actors is Malin Akerman. Variety announced this week that she will play Debbie Harry (aka the lead singer of Blondie). She joins the already cast Alan Rickman as CBGB owner Hilly Kristal and Rupert Grint as Dead Boys guitarist Cheetah Chrome. THR also brought news that Joel David Moore (Avatar) will play Joey Ramone, and Stana Katic (Castle) will play Genya Ravan, a producer who was the lead singer of pioneering 1960s rock band Goldie & the Gingerbreads. Filming begins in Georgia and New York on June 25th.

Quick notes: Rumors, release dates, casting news and more

Matthew Vaughn’s sequel to X-Men: First Class will be released July 18, 2014.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, will hit theaters May 23, 2014.

Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Robopocalypse will come the theaters April 25, 2014 after originally being targeted for next summer.

The release of The Lone Ranger has been moved from May 31, 2013 to July 3, 2013.

Independence Day will return to theaters in 3D on July 3, 2013.

Ben Stiller’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty will come to theaters December 25, 2013.

The Tom Cruise-starring, Christopher McQuarrie-directed adaptation of Lee Child’s One Shot will now titled Jack Reacher when it hits theaters December 21st. - THR

Michelle Pfeiffer is in talks to play Robert De Niro’s wife in Luc Besson’s Malavita, a comedic gangster flick about a mafia family living under witness protection in France. - Variety

It looks like Adam Sandler will replace Mark Wahlberg in Three Mississippi. In the football-themed family feud comedy, Sandler’s family will try to break a long losing streak to Will Ferrell’s in an annual Thanksgiving day game. - Vulture

Kevin James and Kevin Hart will star in the comedy Valet Guys as (you guessed it) valets who have 48 hours to find an expensive car they lost. - Deadline

Emily Browning is in talks to star as a teenager with psychic abilities in Catherine Hardwicke’s Plush. - Variety

Who would you like to play Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire? E! reports that Armie Hammer, Taylor Kitsch, and Garret Hedlund are currently on the hot list, but Kitsch told 24 Frames he’s not in the running.

Carl Franklin, whose last feature directorial effort was 2003’s Out of Time, has been selected to helm the LAPD cop thriller City of Night.

SNL’s Taram Killam is going to be busy. After joining Steve McQueen’s Twelve Years a Slave last week, Variety reports that he will also star in two comedies—Growing Up (and Other Lies) with Amber Tamblyn and Killer Rebound Guy with Adam Pally (Happy Endings).

Comments (1)

No offense Metacritic but I think you guys were the ones that were hyping up Prometheus so much. I thought it looked cool in one of its earliest trailers but with all the extra videos that you kept putting out, I didn't expect as much out of it.